


the crimson shadow

by allp_wips



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-06
Updated: 2019-05-06
Packaged: 2020-06-02 05:15:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 961
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19434673
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/allp_wips/pseuds/allp_wips
Summary: Private investigator Alex Danvers finally catches up with an international theif that she has been trying to catch for months.(Written for a tumblr prompt: Thief AU)





	the crimson shadow

**Author's Note:**

> I was watching a little too much Carmen Sandiego over the weekend, lol.

“You stole not just any gems, but  _ The _ Heritage Gems of Kandor!” Alex accuses the figure tied to the chair opposite her in the dimly lit room. “Right from under the nose of Maxwell Lord!”

“As if he had not stolen them himself, from the museum he’d sent his lackeys to raid.” The woman tied to the chair, hands cuffed behind its back, still somehow manages to sprawl across it, as if she’d chosen to be tied up.

As if Alex hadn’t, after almost a year of arduous pursuit, finally cornered the international thief known only as the Crimson Shadow.

Who, unfortunately, now that Alex is looking down at her unmasked face, also turns out to be someone Alex recognizes.

Alex bends down to her, frowning. “I should arrest you.”

“You can do that, yes,” the woman says. “It would put a little damper on the game nights that my niece hosts, don’t you think?”

“Shut up!” Alex hisses. “Just because you’re my favorite coworker’s aunt doesn’t mean I will hesitate to take you in, Astra!”

“You think I meant to keep those gems for myself?” Astra casts a bored glance at the sparkling gems that had spilled out on the floor during their fight. “I’ve never understood the attraction towards such things. They’re a little gaudy, don’t you think?”

“Ugh,” Alex groans. “I should  _ so _ be arresting you right now.”

“But you won’t.”

“But I won’t,” Alex admits, with an aggravated intake of breath. “Because Kara would be devastated.”

“I’m sure.”

“For once in your life, just listen.” Alex sinks to her knees before the chair, so that she and Astra are face to face. “I’m going to let you go, but I’m not letting you keep the gems. Deal?”

Astra seems to actually be thinking it over, rocking her chair on its back legs.

“And Kara won’t hear about this?”

“Kara won’t hear about this,” Alex confirms.

“As long as you return them to the Kandorian museum, rather than to Maxwell Lord, I suppose I have no problem with such terms,” the thief finally concedes. 

“The museum is who hired our agency,” Alex says, with relief. “We had no idea Max even had the gems, until we’d heard the reports that you’d stolen them.”

Astra nods. “I supposed as much.”

Alex sighs, and takes the key to the handcuffs out.

“I’m not doing this for you,” she repeats, like a warning. ‘“For the record, I find you incredibly annoying and I think that your whole Robin Hood schtick is incredibly clichéd. I’m only doing this for Kara.”

Astra looks up at her, eyebrows raised, and that infuriatingly familiar smirk on her face. Alex flushes despite herself.

“Stop that.”

“I’m not doing anything.” Astra looks immensely pleased with herself.

“Shut up.”

When Alex has released her from her handcuffs, though, and stepped back, the woman’s confident bravado seems to shift a little, as she stares at Alex.

“Agent Danvers, I-”

There’s an odd strain to her voice that makes Alex flush again, deeper this time. Oh no. They won’t be doing this. Not here, not now, not with this woman.

“Don’t,” she warns.

“Very well.” 

Astra sighs, open disappointment written all over her face. It’s hard not to offer some concession, when faced with that kicked-puppy expression.

“You know Kara expects us both at the next game night,” Alex says. “You better be there.”

“Of course.”

Then Astra is gone, leaving the gems sparkling behind on the floor for Alex to gather up.

\---

By the time her supervising partner comes in as backup, Alex is faced with the choice of having to explain to him why she has the gems back, but the thief is missing.

“You’re telling me you somehow managed to get all the gems back in one piece, but the thief herself escaped?” Director J’onn J’onnz, owner of the private detective agency that Alex works for, asks.

“Sir, the museum only hired us to get the gems back,” Alex says, staring right at him, and trying not to break a sweat. Sometimes, she thinks the man can read her mind. “We know no one in the world has managed to track the Crimson Shadow down.”

“Of course, Agent.” J’onn moves a little to the left, as it to get a better look at the cuffs lying on the floor. “I am just curious about these handcuffs. Is that a streak of long silver hair I see caught in between the chains, or am I imagining it?”

Alex moves to the left also, blocking his view.

“You must have been imagining it, sir. They’re pristine. Unused.”

“Of course.” J’onn nods. “It must have been a trick of the light.”

“Yes, sir.”

“You understand that we’re not allowed to let criminals run free, Agent?”

“Of course, sir.” Alex rocks back and forth on the heels of her boot, and then decides to go all in. “She stole the gems from a private collector that had obtained them illegally, and you  _ do _ often say everyone deserves a second chance, sir.” 

“I do say that, Agent Danvers.”

“Yes, sir.”

J’onn nods, and takes another look around the room. Seeming to find everything to his satisfaction, he links his hands behind his back and seems ready to walk out the door, when he suddenly stops mid-stride.

“Oh, and Agent Danvers?”

“Yes, sir?”

“If you decide to get into a relationship with a criminal,” J’onn begins. “I will personally ensure that you will fill out all the 55 forms required by Pam from HR in such an eventuality. Being Agent Zor-El’s best friend will not get you out of that task.”

Alex flushes crimson. “That won’t be necessary, sir.”

“I’m sure I believe you, Agent,” J’onn says, as he walks out the door. 

\---


End file.
